Perfectly Imperfect Right Now

Work in process.  Just in time for Valentine's Day,
these necklaces will be making their way to the galleries who represent my work..

Anyone who knows me quickly learns of my love of the hunt.  I was the kid who couldn't resist stuffing my pockets to capacity with any number of things that I deemed to be special.  Pretty rocks...check.  Lucky pennies...you betcha.  Rusty washers...only if they're good ones.  And they're ALL good ones.

As an adult, I've honed this behavior to an art.  And while my penchant for both found and purchased wabi-sabi treasures has served me well as a mixed media jewelry artist, there's also a fine line between "collector" and "hoarder".

These amazing pottery hearts are a shining example of what I mean.  It was love at first sight for me.  They're perfectly imperfect and what character.  I could think of a million ways that I'd be able to use them in my work.  I had to have them.  And if one was good, more was definitely better.

When I brought them home and unwrapped them, I loved them even more.  So...instead of immediately transforming them into fabulous wearable art, I kept them all to myself.  I moved them from place to place in my studio.  I lost them.  And I found them.  Probably several times over. 

This year, it's my personal mission to no longer save my treasures for the perfect project, the perfect piece, or the perfect time to use them.  There'll be no more acquiring treasures for the pure pleasure of craftily stashing them in my studio.  Instead, I'll begin to rediscover and appreciate all that I already have, and I'll use it to my full advantage.  In work and in life, this seems like a good philosophy to live by.